SPEED cameras are saving more than 2,000 lives a year on the roads, it was revealed yesterday.

Transport Department figures showed 3,201 people were killed in crashes in Britain in 2005 - the lowest since records began in 1926 and well down on the 5,217 in 1990, when speed cameras came in.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "There is no doubt, unpopular as they are, safety cameras have made a huge difference."

Brigitte Chaudry, who founded the campaign group Roadpeace after her son died in an accident,said: "There is a direct link between cameras and the reduction of deaths. We cannot understand why people have the audacity to object to them enforcing the law - it is like burglars objecting to CCTV so they can break into houses."

But a survey showed there is still massive public resistance to cameras - only one in eight support them as a way of promoting safe driving. Andrew Blowers, boss of insurance firm Swiftcover.com, which carried out the study, said: "They have emerged as the scourge of the motorist. Drivers are frustrated by their ineffective use."

The Department for Transport figures showed 141 children died on the roads last year, 15 per cent down on 2004. The number of cyclists killed rose by 10 per cent to 148, the highest since 1999. There was a slight rise in the number of driver deaths - up four to 1,675.

New laws on child car seats coming in this September are expected to cut casualties still further. All children under 12 will have to use proper child seats, not adult safety belts. Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman said: "Most people make sure children use some kind of restraint. But it is vitally important to use the right one and not an adult belt before the child is big enough."